TheVCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Centerwill celebrate another year of second chances at its Spring Celebration of Life gala. The event, held duringNational Donate Life Month, will bring together transplant patients and families, community members and VCU and Hume-Lee leaders and staff. The event will celebrate patients’ new chances at life after transplant, and share stories of cutting-edge patient care, research and education the Hume-Lee Transplant Center provides.

Premiering at the event will be a video of heart and kidney transplant recipient Carlnealius “Tyrees” Dandridge's remarkable transplant journey. Dandridge made national news in February with his return to work at Pole Green Elementary School in Hanover County. Students lined the school’s hallways to welcome back the beloved custodian. Dandridge is planning to attend the gala.

VCU Health’s Hume-Lee Transplant Center began in 1957 when the Medical College of Virginia initiated a transplant program — one of only three in the country at the time. Today, it is one of the busiest transplant programs in the nation, known for superior patient outcomes that are made possible by top-tier transplant physicians and surgeons, dedicated laboratories and award-winning nursing staff.

Donate Life America and partner organizations established April as National Donate Life Month to encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors, as well as to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.